The cost-of-living and your pension

Over the past year, many have felt the squeeze on our finances caused by the cost-of-living increases. If you’ve wondered whether saving for your future might be leaving you short of money now, this episode is for you.

Kicking off the series, Kerrie Cureton-Williams, Deputy Director of Civil Service & Royal Mail Pensions in the Cabinet Office and Thomas Lynas, Money Advice Supervisor at the Charity for Civil Servants, chat to Rob and Emily about the cost-of-living.

We dive into what we mean by ‘the cost-of-living’ and what’s happened to cause the increases over the last 12 months.

Kerrie reminds us of some of the benefits of staying in the scheme, including the generous employer contributions, the ability to partially retire and the benefits for your loved ones in case the unthinkable happens.

There’s also built-in flexibility within the Civil Service Pension arrangements in the form of the partnership pension account. Partnership is a defined contribution scheme which can give you more flexibility over your contributions – you can even stop contributing for a while, if you need a break – and your employer will still contribute on your behalf.

We explore how members can make sure their pension savings for tomorrow doesn’t leave them short of money today and Thomas shares his money-saving tips to help keep costs down.

Finally, we signpost members to free tools, resources and guidance.

Listen to the episode using the embedded player on this page or by searching 'Civil Service Pensions Podcast' wherever you get your podcasts.

• Full transcript for this episode
• Benefit calculators
• Benefits for your loved ones
• Partnership pension account
• Partial retirement
• MoneyHelper
• PensionWise
• Charity for Civil Servants